Pike River accused facing court

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Tue, 31 Jan 2012 5:03a.m.

Peter Whittall on the stand during the second phase of the inquiry

Peter Whittall on the stand during the second phase of the inquiry

The Department of Labour's case against the Pike River Coal company, its chief executive Peter Whittall and one of its contractors is expected to feature briefly in court.

Today's hearing, in Greymouth District Court, is expected to be procedural and pleas are unlikely to be entered.

The defendants will be represented by their lawyers before a date set for the next court appearance.

Following the deaths of 29 men in explosions in November 2010, the department laid 25 Health and Safety Act charges against the Pike River Coal company, Mr Whittall and drilling company Valley Longwall International.

Mr Whittall is facing 12 charges and says he will defend them. Pike River Coal is facing 10 charges and VLI Drilling three charges.

Each charge carries a maximum penalty of $250,000.

The third phase of the Pike River Royal Commission of Inquiry - looking at what happened at the mine - starts in Greymouth next week.

NZN

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Comments

31 Jan 2012 10:30a.m.

Martin wrote:

The responsibility to to audit and oversea a high risk industry is the Department of Labour. I hope the families of the miners lost sue the DOL to cover their court costs, have a full apology to the families and fund an independent review to either pay for the miners bodes retrieval ,or give finality to the families giving a definitive no. I also think Whittall is the victim of lack of support and SOP's of Pike River Coal company and should not be taken to court. However the first part of the chain of failures is the DOL. If they are not funded enough by the government then just as the court case goes back from Peter to the mining company failures/ drilling company Valley Longwall International, so does the DOL for failure to not give up for pressuring for funding from the government. And all this goes back to 3 salaries and a few airfares and accomodation for mine inspectors. What a total FU.